Direct Measures
Students will be assessed over the course of their 18 hour specialized special education classes. Competency indicators will consist of required projects from each class. Selected projects will be assessed using the evaluation method listed in the course syllabus. (A list of the designated projects is provided in this packet of information.) Data will be collected from all students each semester the class is taught.
Six program objectives were identified based on state endorsement requirements which were in turn developed to meet national standards set forth by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC). Assessment tasks and rubrics were developed to demonstrate those standards. A precise assessment cycle for these objectives cannot be specified because it is dependent on departmentally determined class rotations. The revised Mild/Moderate program began with Summer 2004 classes. The Advanced Practitioner program is a new program and began with the Fall 2004 classes. A minimum of at least one class is usually offered each semester, fall, spring, and summer. Both the Mild/Moderate and Advanced Practitioner programs are taught via online or distance courses. The Mild/Moderate program has two face-to-face courses which are taught every even year summer. With the addition of another graduate faculty in special education, this schedule has been met. The following courses in which assessments were collected were offered during the 06-07 school year.
Fall 2006
- TESE 832 Research-Based Instructional Strategies for Students with Disabilities
- TESE 837P Medical Aspects of Individuals with Disabilities
Spring 2007
- TESE 835 Applications of Assistive Technology (Advanced Practitioner)
- TESE 833 Applied Behavior Analysis
- TESE 837P Medical Aspects of Individuals with Disabilities
Summer 2007
- TESE 833 Applied Behavior Analysis
- TESE 830 Collaboration, Consultation, and Teamwork
The assessment tasks are incorporated into the regular endorsement class requirements. Students will complete the various assessment tasks in the process of completing each required course in the masters program. The class instructor will be responsible for evaluating each assessment task according to the assessment guidelines included in the course syllabus. At the end of each class, a Special Education Graduate Program team will evaluate all of the assessment task results using the Graduate Special Education Program Rubric appropriate for each specialization. This team will consist of the no less than three graduate special education faculty. If the minimum number of graduate special education faculty is not available, the required number of team members will be drawn from the departmental Graduate Committee. Each semester, the members of the special education faculty will review the results of the assessment of the program objectives and recommend program changes.
Indirect Measures
The Alumni Survey will be administered electronically to all Master’s students yearly, since the program is still small. The survey will be administered in August each year. A data sheet with the necessary contact information will be completed by each student at the time they take their comprehensive examination.
The Critical Friends Survey will be administered electronically to the supervisors of all Master’s students during their second and fifth years of employment after the completion of their programs in special education: Mild/Moderate Disabilities or Advanced Practitioner.
An invitation to participate in the Alumni Survey, with a link to an electronic version of the survey, will be emailed to each recent graduate of the Master’s program. A reminder email will be sent on a weekly basis for one month or until the survey has been completed.
A link to an electronic version of the Critical Friends Survey will be emailed to supervisors of all Master’s students two times after the completion of their program in special education. The link will be emailed on a weekly basis for one month or until the survey has been completed.
Results will be tallied and evaluated in conjunction with the direct measures. Results will be used to strengthen the special education core classes and in advisement if applicable.
Survey instruments will be administered that assess each of the six program objectives and the alumni's perceptions of their accomplishment of these program objectives using a Likert-type scale
Local school administrators, who directly supervise one of our graduates, collectively referred to as our "critical friends," will also be invited to participate in a similar Likert-type survey.